Our winter logo sticker is sporting the same sock and legwarmer combo, only in different colors. She holds a snowglobe, and inside of that snowglobe is another logo lady, who is holding another snowglobe…. perhaps containing another logo lady?

To obtain a sticker of your very own, just leave an order note requesting either a holiday or winter logo sticker when you place your order!

One of the things we’re known for here at Sock Dreams is our super-fast shipping: people are most often surprised by the speed of our free domestic option. It does help that we ship all of your orders –with a few exceptions– within 24 hours, but if we’re being completely honest with you, USPS deserves most of the credit for getting your socks across the country (and sometimes to the bottom of the Grand Canyon via mule), usually within two or three days! As we’re heading into our busiest season, I interviewed Shipper Ryan, who specializes in our domestic shipping, but knows quite a bit about all of it. Because he is both hilarious and paranoid about being misquoted, we present you with his responses, verbatim:

Rosalind: I know that USPS really goes above and beyond with some of the more remote locations that they deliver to… can you give us some interesting examples of this?

Ryan: USPS certainly does deliver mail to some faraway places, but to give our most exciting examples of the remote reaches our packages can go, we have to bring up the US Military. Working in partnership with USPS, military mail going to APO, FPO, and DPO addresses can end up in some off the wall places. We’ve sent packages to Forward Operating Bases in Afghanistan (near zones of conflict), and to Aircraft Carriers in the middle of an ocean, but if I were to choose the most remote place our socks have been worn, that’s a no brainer. We have sent a number of orders over the years to McMurdo Station on the Northern edge of Antarctica. I know, I know, all edges of Antarctica are Northern. McMurdo happens to be nearest Tasmania and New Zealand on a Map. And the best part of these locations is that they are technically Domestic Addresses and, as such, qualify for our free shipping. So there is no reason you shouldn’t send socks to personnel that are overseas!

Rosalind: What is the most exciting (domestic or otherwise) location we’ve shipped to, in your opinion?

Ryan: There is one street that comes to mind, here in America, and that is “1 Infinite Loop”. We have a couple of customers who order from there and we always give an excited Whoop of jealousy whenever one comes, as we’re all big nerds who wish we were cool enough to live on “1 Infinite Loop”. Tech heads will recognize the address as the street that encircles Apple’s HQ.

Rosalind: Here in the states we pretty much have a number and a street for an address. Can you explain some of the different ways that other countries do addresses?

Ryan: Almost every country we ship to has similar address elements to what we do in the states, though they may be arranged differently. Many European countries, for instance, put there Postal Code before the City. Some stand out exceptions off of the top of my head would be Spain and Puerto Rico, which have similar addressing styles that include a dearth of information when compared to domestic addresses. Though we can verify the addresses as properly formatted for the country they are going to, we usually have to move information around so USPS recognizes them as addresses they can ship to. Ireland is another standout, as most [addresses] do not have postal codes, instead using the destination county, and some do not have street addresses. These last always give us a chuckle, as we cannot be certain if the package is going to a business or a landmark. We just assume that the destinations are small enough or the mail carriers are so awesome, that they just know where these packages are intended to be delivered. But I like to think that a certain percentage of Magic is used for the delivery of our Ireland-bound orders.

Rosalind: What is the funniest thing about shipping? Are there even funny things about it?

Ryan: Answering unexpected interview questions. Oh, and all of the Puns!

And there we have it! From Antarctica to puns, our shipping department has seen it all. While we’re on the subject, you might have noticed that we’re offering free airmail international shipping until the end of November, so even if your friends overseas aren’t in the military or conducting research in Antarctica, there’s no reason not to send them some socks this month!

Last month we announced our new monthly contest, Dreamer Dress Up. Our first challenge to you was to create a Halloween costume which featured some of our socks, or accessories. We had a lot of amazing entries. They were so good, in fact, that we had to share our ten finalists with all of you!

We loved Cindy Dulay’s portrayal of Mary Sanderson, the middle sister from the movie Hocus Pocus. She is using the plus sized Striped Over the Knee stockings to keep her witchy legs warm. And speaking of needing to stay warm, our next entrant, known only as Pixi Faery, is staying snuggley by layering rust colored Long Cuffable Scrunchable Socks and Dark Brown Knees.

And now for our three winners, who will each receive a $30 Sock Dreams Gift Card!

We want to congratulate all of our finalists. And to do that, we decided to throw in a bonus. We are giving each of them 10% off their next purchase! Feeling a bit jealous? Click here to find out how you can enter November’s Dreamer Dress Up contest. And don’t forget to sign up for our Newsletter to see who will win next time!

Are you all stocked up for Halloween? Well, if you’re like us, you’ve been ready to go since November 1st of 2013. But for those of you still scrambling to get your leg wear together, we have some Shipping dates that will help you plan your purchases!

•Free/First Class: 5-9 days estimated shipping time (not guaranteed) – order by the 21st

•Priority Mail: 3-5 days estimated shipping time (not guaranteed) – order by the 25th

•Priority Express Mail: 1-2 days, guaranteed – order by the morning of the 29th

While you’re at it, make sure you request one of our spooky Halloween stickers, featuring our logo as the wickedest of witches.

Those of you who have been shopping with us for a while might have found out about our ZAP! section by now. If not, it’s where we put items which have been discontinued by their suppliers until they sell out, never to return (though on occasion we’re pleasantly surprised by items making a come-back). Sometimes we’re very nearly out of the item in question by the time we find out it’s not coming back, but sometimes we get one last chance at it….

The Super Chic Cabled Leg Warmers first came across our conference room table two years ago, as Sakura of Tabbisocks was showing us their fall line. We were immediately in awe of them — finally the chunky cables we’d been dreaming of had arrived! I remember thinking they looked just like a classic Irish fisherman’s sweater, but until recently we didn’t know just how accurate that was!

We recently received word that these will not be going forward, so of course we immediately bought up the last of their stock, even though white is the only remaining color. Sadly, we didn’t even realize how unique these really are until they were already on their way out.

At it turns out, every pair of these leg warmers that we ever carried was knitted by one man, who had figured out how to make leg warmers on a sweater knitting machine. They look and feel like rustic sweaters, because they’re basically augmented sweater sleeves! Sadly this year the man who figured out how to make them retired, and was unable to find an apprentice before doing so.

To be perfectly clear, Nara (AKA Sock City), Japan is a town which has been devoted to sock making for over a century. It’s where they make the amazing toe socks with the hand woven seams that don’t rub your feet the wrong way. The people who work in the 200 sock factories of Nara are considered artisans within the industry. We think it’s pretty telling of the amount of time and skill that went into making these, that in a city full of dedicated sock makers, nobody could be found to take on this endeavor.

And so it is with a heavy heart that we offer you the last of these amazing, sweatery leg warmers. We hope that when you wear yours, you will think of the anonymous sock genius who single-handedly made them possible. We think they’re even more amazing once you know their story!

Curious about us?

Sock Dreams was born in Portland Oregon in the Fall of 2000. We at Sock Dreams are a unique & quirky bunch of individuals who value diversity as much as we value comfy socks and great customer service. Our customers come in many sizes, shapes, genders, etc... and so do we.